


What happens under the surface

by plazorr



Series: Casual shipping [9]
Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Birthday, Diving, F/F, Kissing, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29320647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plazorr/pseuds/plazorr
Summary: Kanan spends her birthday diving with her two childhood friends, but their situation is not the same as it used to be.
Relationships: Matsuura Kanan/Watanabe You
Series: Casual shipping [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1662025
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	What happens under the surface

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to Kanan, my absolute best girl from Aqours. I hope that my love for her character will show through this fic and that other people who like her will enjoy this work :)

Absolute silence was surrounding Kanan as she swam through the translucent water. She could see all these fishes swim together in the distance, a bit afraid of her. They were so small, they must think that she was a predator and that she would eat them.

“Hey, come to me!” She wanted to tell them. “I’m not going to eat you all: you’re safe around me.”

There was no way for them to know of course. So, she continued to swim, feeling the current push around her body.

There were few feelings in the world that could rival the bliss that filled her mind when she was diving, when her world became nothing but blue beyond what her eyes could see through her diving mask. At some points, she stopped swimming and just let the streams carry her, drifting as the only thing that broke the silence was her calm breathing. It almost felt as if she was flying. Not that she had actually ever flown and could compare the experiences, but Kanan was certain that it was pretty similar.

She smiled thinking about what happened as she left the shop. Her father came to her while she was still on the quays, transporting some more air bottles to the boat.

“Hey Skippy,” he said, calling her by that nickname he had used with her for as long as Kanan could remember. “Don’t worry about coming back early to help at the shop. It’s your birthday so enjoy it to the fullest. There are no clients who booked this morning for a deep dive, so we don’t need the boat until the afternoon.

“Are you sure?” she asked, to which he confidently nodded. “Thanks pops.”

He hugged her and she planted a kiss on his cheek as she jumped back to the boat, starting its engine. She waved goodbye as the boat slowly accelerated and he progressively turned into a dot on the horizon.

Since she didn’t have to worry about anything else than the air remaining in her bottles, she took the moment in and closed her eyes.

“It’s funny how i can feel the water more intensely with my eyes closed… ”

She stayed like that for a few seconds, floating in peace. When she opened her eyes, she was met with the vision of bright blue eyes, surrounded by flocks of light gray hair, and a smile so pure it could warm up even these cold waters of February. Kanan smiled back at You, who winked at her and swiftly swam underneath her. Kanan looked behind her and saw Chika climb back the ladder to the deck while You was calmly staying at the same depth, slightly lower than Kanan.

Her two childhood friends had stayed at her house for a sleepover to celebrate her birthday the night before. It had been a tradition for them to do that every year. And that tradition included going for a diving session in the morning ever since they had been old enough to do so, first with Kanan’s parents but just the three of them in the latest years, after Kanan learnt how to drive the boat.

Chika was always the first to go back on deck. She was always so full of energy that she burned through her air bottles the quickest. Kanan and You, who were more used to underwater activities, controlled their respiration much more effectively and lasted longer under the surface. Usually, it meant that Kanan and You would do one race against each other and rejoin with their friend so she wouldn’t be left alone too long.

However, that year, none of them felt like rushing back to the boat. After all, since the last time they had dived together, the nature of their relationship had changed. Instead of being friends, they had become more. However, they preferred to keep it a secret, to not get all of their friends’ attention over something that was, as they said themselves to each other, not worth a ruckus.

It had already been a big trouble to hide their blooming love the night before. During most of the evening, they could spend their time together all three like they usually did, laughing, joking, discussing and simply being happy together. Troubles occured when Chika suggested that they all sleep together in Kanan’s bed, just like they used to do when they were still children. Kanan had a bed big enough to fit the three of them, that was not a problem. However, Kanan and You hadn’t shared a bed yet since they had started dating. And this wasn’t something they could admit to Chika: the struggles of keeping what was born between them a secret. Between the nervousness from this intimacy they didn’t know how to refuse and the snores coming out of Chika, Kanan and You didn’t spend their most relaxing night.

Thus, Kanan didn’t want to race to the boat and neither did You. Instead, Kanan swam to You’s level and held hands with her. Even though it wasn’t the first time they did, a slight blush appeared on You’s cheeks, contrasting with the blue surrounding her as well as the one coloring her eyes. They slowly swam around, their heat inside of them balancing the cold water around, until air started rarefying inside their own bottles. Their faster heart rates might be to blame for how early that happened. They swam to the ladder dangling in the water, gazed intensely inside of each other’s eyes one last time and climbed back on deck.

There, Chika was already done changing back to her city clothes, a simple light blue shirt and a skirt of a slightly deeper blue. She also had, to nobody’s surprise, a peeled mikan in hand. She smiled as she handed them their towels to dry off. They took turns to go to a part of the boat where they could change back to a more casual outfit themselves. You went first, coming back wearing her blue long skirt and a white shirt. Finally, Kanan went out of sight to put her trusty old jeans and a long coat on. As she arrived, the mikan was entirely eaten.

When she came back, Chika and You had taken a birthday cake out of the refrigerated box they had on the boat.

“Happy birthday Kanan!” they cheered as she saw it.

Kanan expected them to have a cake for her, but she was still a bit emotional to actually see it.

“Aw, thank you so much. I love you two so much,” she said as she ran to them and hugged them both at once.

“Urgh…” Chika overly struggled as Kanan’s arm wrapped around her neck. “Hey, leave some for You, i don’t want her to be jealous of me: i’m no girlfriend thief.”

They all laughed for a moment before Kanan and You puzzled in their heads what Chika had implied. Her face red, Kanan moved away and looked at Chika, who was still laughing. She looked at You, who was equally red.

“What? What happened? Why are you two?... Oh… Oh, I said it, didn’t I?”

Kanan and You silently nodded.

“Oops…”

“So, you already knew?” Kanan asked.

“Well, I know i am dense sometimes,” Chika said, nervously swinging. “But I'm not that dense that I don't see that something has changed between my two best friends. I simply didn’t want to be the one bringing it up, it wasn’t my role to do it… Sorry I goofed...”

“Sorry we didn’t tell you, Chika,” You said, grabbing Chika’s hand. “We… We didn’t want to make it something bigger than it is. We’re just enjoying each other, you see?”

“And you thought i’d go everywhere screaming about how my friends are gay for each other? Without caring about their feelings and privacy?”

“Yes,” Kanan said instantly.

“No doubt about that,” You added.

“Rude!” Chika said, punching their shoulders, but unable to hide the smile on her face. “But true, I have to admit that I was really close to do it…”

“So you forgive us?” You asked with a hint of fear.

“Of course i do! I said you two are my best friends, I'm happy for you two. I would’ve liked to openly support you sooner though.”

Kanan and You sighed in relief. They looked at each other and smiled even more as they held hands once more, this time not stealthily.

“So, like, you two have already kissed? I mean… on the lips?” Chika asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Of course, a few times,” You answered, not very at ease about how direct that question was.

“We had our first one six weeks ago,” Kanan added, not as flustered by Chika’s questions.

“Can you show me how it goes?”

“Chika!” they both exclaimed at the same time.

“We’re not circus animals…” Kanan said, crossing her arms.

“Oh come on! I need to see you receive a birthday kiss from your girlfriend at least once to know what it looks like.”

“You’re really insufferable sometimes, Chika…”

“I mean, she’s not wrong…” You said, nervously swinging around. “I haven’t been able to give you a birthday kiss yet… And i’d like to do it…”

Surprised, Kanan looked at You. Looking inside of her blue eyes didn’t fail to melt all of her defenses and squash all the arguments she had against it. She sighed and smiled. She really wanted to receive that birthday kiss after all.

“Ugh… Alright, just this once, so don’t get too comfortable about making us kiss all the time, ok Chika?”

“Promise!” Chika giggled, not intending to keep that promise.

Kanan turned all of her attention away from Chika, to You, who had moved to sit on her knees in front of her. She calmly inhaled as she moved her face closer and closer to Kanan’s. As she was only centimeters away from her, You put her hand on Kanan’s cheek, touching her ear with the end of her nails. Kanan rested her hand on You’s lap as she started to close her eyes. 

“Happy birthday,” You whispered, so weakly that Kanan barely felt the breath coming out of her mouth.

Kanan slightly opened her mouth, just as You’s lips met hers. As a pleasant warmth started to fill Kanan’s body, You’s free armed wrapped around her. A slight blush appeared on Kanan’s face as she timidly let her tongue make her way inside of You’s mouth, trying to make it force its way through her lips. At her next inhaling, You let her in, following Kanan’s movements with her own, a wrestling game happening with only their teeths as witnesses.

When they parted with a discrete succion sound, they opened their eyes again, lost in each other. Kanan pressed her foreheads against You’s, smiling and catching her breath. They didn’t notice that Chika was looking at her feet, red as a tomato, even though she was the one that initiated that moment.

“I didn’t expect it to be so confusing and weird to see these two actually kiss…” she thought. “I… I guess I will keep my promise…”.


End file.
